Hello, can anyone tell me the best way to get my thyme growing .I have all my gardens mulched,and the thyme started off great but seems like it is taking forever to spread.I have Red thyme and wooly time?Starting to think it just does not like the mulch.
Will Thyme grow in mulched beds?
I don't grow it but I doubt that mulch is the problem since it spreads by underground runners. They need very good drainage and full sun. They prefer a neutral to slightly alkaline soil. If yours is acidic, you may have to add lime. Good luck.
Thanks for the advice.I know my soil is probably very acidic.I'm surrounded by pine trees!
PJP7481, I use to grow lots of it in mulched beds but it did better and seemed to seek the dryer soil in between the stones in the path between the mulched beds where I had planted it. I also found that mine got very weed infested, so I gave it up as a ground cover, but I do love it when it works. Best to you. I now grow most of my thyme's in big herb planters. Can't cook without it. Patti
A herbal lover understands,
We have lots of Thyme on our hands.
Mine grows well when left alone in less than ideal soil. I am using mother-of-thyme between stepping stones and ordinary thyme in an area between sidewalk and street where grass won't grow (the contractor who developed our subdivision had filled with construction debris). The thyme (grown from seed) did take a year or so to fill out, but did well thereafter. I run a lawnmower at a high setting over it after it blooms.
Thyme, rosemary and lavender hate mulch! They grow off of rocky cliff edges on relatively wind swept locations. The mulch keeps them too damp in winter and they succumb to mildews and rot. As Don said, they can tolerate poor soil, are good under the mower, and will be eager to spread. However, it is my experience that a winter under cover is the kiss of death. Although they do spread by runners, new growth appreciates exposed, well ventilated conditions more than full sun.
Laurel, well said. My rosemary is always iffy and looks like it is a goner this year. But Lavender loves me. Here are two of my original Lav. plants on the east side of the garden on May 1 2008 that were planted in the summer of 1983. I now have many big clump through out all the beds. Can't wait for the scent. Patti
Been growing lavender and other drainage-loving plants with some mulch for years. The soil drainage is much more important.
Missed this thread originally...Patti, your garden is GORGEOUS!!!!
Wow!
Do you divide your lavender, Patti?
Landlords like to dump mulch on everything around here. My lavenders have done fine so far, rosemary hasn't made it through the winter, and late last year i planted creeping white thyme, creeping scarlet thyme, and lemon thyme in my herb area. The lemon seems not to have made it, the white is doing great, and the scarlet is finally growing. (If only i could convince it to grow the direction i want it to!) But i have been clearing away the mulch around the creeping thymes - mostly because i hope it will replace some of the mulch...
amy
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